On the lack of humanity in our community.

[Yoshiyuki]

If anyone remembers me, I'm the AST who made the post giving my feedback about our performance in Alex Savage. Some of the replies encouraged me to share my thoughts here in the future. Thank you for that. I'm making this post for anyone who wants to listen, including the devs. "Avalanches" by IAMX is oddly fitting to accompany my feelings.

A little update on my story: changing to white mage impacted me too negatively. I had to leave my static. I discarded my Esoterics and Ravana canes after doing so. I lost a great deal of patience and understanding from the switch. I lost part of what made me who I am--ultimately, my humanity. The stress made me a liability. What made it worse was that I felt like I couldn't talk about it. I only wanted to be understood by the people around me; I frustrated myself because I knew that my concerns were too deep for them to relate to. I've since declined offers to raid again. No one worth their salt wants an astrologian. I know, if I were to go back to white mage, that resentment would come out again. I'd rather wait for the devs to fix my main job before deciding if I'll quit or not. So now I'm a "casual."

There is a real problem of dehumanization in this game. The endgame community, as it probably is on many servers, and many games, isn't for me. I blame myself for joining it in the first place for the sake of raiding. In many cases I've witnessed, people who were dissatisfied with their real lives took out their issues on others in this game. For them, top-tier gear and efficiency trump the idea that there are real people behind the monitors and televisions. By elevating themselves to this imagined status, they make the gear treadmill their sole concern at the expense of discarding others. Like the new lancer they were rude to for not knowing to ignore the bomb in the second boss in Copperbell Mines normal--they might have canceled their sub, or, worse, continued this cycle by refusing to see others as humans with feelings, all to forget about that poor experience.

I'm not a saint, either. There were too many times when I quantified my experiences as time per tomestones and/or gil, and failed to take other peoples' feelings into consideration. That was wrong of me. There's nothing in my life I feel I must take out on "lesser" players, and yet I did these things anyway. I'm sure there are others who have no real reason to put others down except, "Well, they're doing it wrong. This is the right way." I hope you can also take something away from this post.

I contributed to the gilbuying problem in our game until I realized it, and eventually stopped answering calls for sell runs.

I watched the destruction of friendships, linkshells and free companies over in-game currency, playstyle disputes or job choices (hello astrologians, dark knights, bards and machinists everywhere) and did nothing, or not enough, to stop them from happening.

I neglected to teach willing players because I'd deemed them unworthy of my time when I should have been more understanding. Look to those who walked before to lead those who walk after.

On the other end of the spectrum, the non-hardcores who resent the community I was a part of: they make generalizations and group all of those players into one category of unfeeling elitists. "Fight the power," they may be thinking. "They don't want to understand us, so why should we understand them?" You're right. Not everyone deserves that understanding if they aren't willing to give you the same. At the same time, spreading a blanket over everyone in a group and deeming them as others has contributed to countless wars, supremacy groups and bigotry in our world's history. As a less dramatic example, suicides, low self-esteem and poor attitudes are all direct results of gamers feeling ostracized in some way. It isn't fair. It isn't right.

The servers could be shut down tomorrow for some mysterious reason. That sense of superiority (or fighting back against the elites) would die with the game. Where would some of you be then? Forced to look in the mirror at the wasteland that is your life and your choices. That would be torture for you when it shouldn't be.

tl;dr - people have feelings, as I'm sure you do. The emotional genocide in the video game community is staggering. It probably doesn't seem like a big deal until you are personally affected by it. Please don't contribute to it, and if you do, make an effort to do better. Someone on these forums has a quote in their signature by Ernest Hemingway that fits perfectly: "There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self." Try to remember. Try to understand. Please.

P.S. - Thank you again to GM Eresgha for helping me with an unrelated matter. You were very helpful. You also restored a little more of my faith in this game and the community.

[Ashkendor]

I contributed to the gilbuying problem in our game until I realized it, and eventually stopped answering calls for sell runs.

This in particular bothers me when people say it this way. Sell runs don't contribute to gil buying any more than crafted items and housing do. Don't get me wrong, I like teaching content. The thing is, some people don't want to learn it. They just want to get through it for the title, the pony, whatever, and they'll pay to have you kill things for them while they eat wall and tab out to watch anime. There's nothing wrong with either way of going about it.

As far as your main, if you enjoy AST then play it. If it's truly underperforming as compared to the other two healers (which I believe it is) we should see some adjustments soon. Don't completely write off endgame raiding because of what happened. Remember that right now we're very much undergeared for the content, so yes people are going to be very picky about what classes they take. As time goes on, people will gear up more and it'll create a little more wiggle room in party composition. Just stick with what you like. It's a game. You're supposed to enjoy it.

In any case, I agree with wanting to remind people that there's a person behind every character you run into and they should be treated accordingly. There's assholes everywhere, sure, but there's good people there too.

[Andrea]

I may have only joined the forums recently but lurked for a long time, this is without a doubt one of the best things i have read on this forum in a long time.

People are far too quick to blame one side rather than everyone taking the blame. Being a raider or a hardcore player doesnt make you a asshole or negative person, Nor does being a casual. They will be negative regardless of how they play or the amount they play.

I hope you find what you want in the game again and continue having fun with it.

[Catwho]

OP, thank you for your input. I'm sorry your static treated you that way, and I'm sorry SE has not made AST a viable option for serious endgame raiding.

I played FFXI for a decade. I experienced much of what you've experienced in XIV - the egos, the toxic attitudes, the worst examples of Gabe's Law of Internet Anonimity that could exist in a given community. I realized that as much as I despised that environment, others thrived in it. They welcomed the hatred. They viewed criticism as a challenge to prove wrong, and dished out their hate indiscriminately to anyone whom they perceived was flawed.

At some point, probably when I was unemployed briefly when I was 27, I decided I didn't enjoy that kind of game. At all. If that meant giving up the highest tiers of endgame raiding, then so be it. This is a game, not a job. Any achievements we earn for world first are ultimately meaningless - even our grandkids aren't going to care. So why torture myself?

So I quit endgame when I started graduate school, and vowed to never go back. When 2.0 started, I swore I would only do activities that a carefully chosen group of friends were capable of doing. We're casuals, but we're good. We're slow, but we care about each other. We're still hammering at Turn 7 for people who missed it last year.

I'm much much happier with my current Free Company than I ever was doing a serious endgame grind in XI.

[Stanelis]

Well statics lack humanity because, in order to overcome to top end content, you have to become like machines (by using your abilities and moving to specified spots at the exact same time each time).

The issue lies with the game design of the content.

[Velthice]

There is a real problem of dehumanization in this game. The endgame community, as it probably is on many servers, and many games, isn't for me. I blame myself for joining it in the first place for the sake of raiding. In many cases I've witnessed, people who were dissatisfied with their real lives took out their issues on others in this game. For them, top-tier gear and efficiency trump the idea that there are real people behind the monitors and televisions. By elevating themselves to this imagined status, they make the gear treadmill their sole concern at the expense of discarding others. Like the new lancer they were rude to for not knowing to ignore the bomb in the second boss in Copperbell Mines normal--they might have canceled their sub, or, worse, continued this cycle by refusing to see others as humans with feelings, all to forget about that poor experience.

On the other end of the spectrum, the non-hardcores who resent the community I was a part of: they make generalizations and group all of those players into one category of unfeeling elitists.

So... You got burned by your static, make a sweeping generalization of the endgame community, then in the same post admit that it's wrong to make sweeping generalizations about the endgame community, but then turn around again and do it anyway. Cool.

Sorry you got burned so badly by your group. There are lots of other groups out there that would be happy to have any skilled healer (or any role) regardless of the class, yes even AST. My static runs with one, and so do a few others that I know of, and we're all chipping away at savage.

Your call for better conduct is good, but your reasoning for it is flawed and anecdotal. Good luck in the future.

[Eye_Gore]

Well statics lack humanity because, in order to overcome to top end content, you have to become like machines

This is not gaming anymore. It becomes first day of boot camp, not fun. I know people game for many reasons, but when it boils down its just a game. I can understand the will to win and be on top, call it human nature, but at what cost? Does it turn people into what they are not? Does it just bring out the true nature of that person? It is unfortunate the way the game changes people, but on the other hand, did it really?

[Jim_Berry]

So now I'm a "casual."

If it helps, I became a casual shortly after NIN released, as my BRD was said to not be "...a hardcore raider.".

[Amiaze]

tl;dr - people have feelings, as I'm sure you do. The emotional genocide in the video game community is staggering.

I didn't read your previous thread, but I read this post. I understand not liking WHM, though. When I was in a static, I wasn't ever given the chance to do anything outside of healing because nobody else wanted to do it, not even in content that wasn't endgame. I actually signed in to oftentimes find that my static and FC were volunteering me to heal without asking whether I wanted to or not. And when I tried to learn other roles, they offered no support whatsoever and didn't answer my concerns, such as "am I tanking Twintania correctly?".

And that's why I quit healing and became a Machinist. I also left the game for a while, and then transferred servers when I came back. It's not that I hate healing, but I certainly am hesitant to do it now when I know I may just be locked into the role when joining a static group, or even a smaller group of people dedicated to raiding. As it stands, I no longer have any desire to join a static because of my experience healing one. That static lost both their tank and healer at nearly the same time, people whom they'd considered friends, and didn't bat an eye in replacing either. It stinks, but it just goes to show that...well, it's the internet.

That mantra still applies to FFXIV. It's the internet. Just like on a forum/messageboard, you may find people that you keep in contact with online for years to come, and you'll most definitely find people that don't really care. Just expect more of the latter. It stinks, yeah, but people take advantage of anonymity. And their insecurities show a lot when they're stressed. It's the internet. People are jerks, but there are some nice ones in the crowd.

As for your feelings about newer players changing, that's something I've also seen. Using my old static as an example, we had a very hard time passing T5 and felt rather offended when others said that it was easy to do. When we were able to pass it consistently and would go back to help others, we found ourselves asking why the new player wasn't dodging divebombs correctly or dropping fireballs where they needed to. It's easy to forget that you were there, once. The issue with a static group is that it demands top performance from everyone and can effectively cut you off from raiding other content with other people, depending on how things turn out. That's bound to change your mentality after a while. At least, that's the way I see it.

Take a break and do something else for a while, or just play with different people and take it easy. My short experience in a static honestly made me hate the game for a while, enough so that I eventually just cancelled my subscription for a while. So I played some Resident Evil, then transferred when Heavensward came. A fresh new start and, to me, a fresh new game.

[Kaedan94]

This in particular bothers me when people say it this way. Sell runs don't contribute to gil buying any more than crafted items and housing do. Don't get me wrong, I like teaching content. The thing is, some people don't want to learn it. They just want to get through it for the title, the pony, whatever, and they'll pay to have you kill things for them while they eat wall and tab out to watch anime. There's nothing wrong with either way of going about it.

No, actually, it does contribute directly to gil-buying, just like extremely overpriced goods in the market do. Unless your price for selling clears is reasonable (I've never seen a reasonable price offered), it does contribute to gil-buying because the only way the people who can't clear it can afford to buy the clear is by buying gil. Same problem with ridiculously priced crafted goods: If you have the money to buy it without buying gil, that most likely means you can make it yourself. So the only people who would need to buy it would be those who can't afford it... and thus buy gil.